For the moment at least, mergers appear to have gone out of fashion in the UK. But across the Atlantic they are being agreed with the minimum of fuss.
Recently, Florida-based Holland & Knight completed its sixth acquisition in a year to break into the top five US firms by size. Washington DC’s Swidler & Berlin has merged with New York capital markets specialist Shereff Friedman Hoffman & Goodman, and European 58-partner practice Salans Hertzfeld & Heilbronn snapped up New York’s Christy & Viener.